Tag: April Smith and the Great Picture Show

Categories
Concert Reviews

Female Vocalists Impress at Maxwell’s



Photo Credit: Monica Rozenfeld

Women ruled the night on Friday as frontwomen April Smith and Elizabeth Ziman of April Smith and the Great Picture Show and Elizabeth and the Catapult owned the stage. With an animated performance and mesmerizing vocals, Smith and Ziman showed the audience how it’s done, with some help from the men in their respective bands.

Headliner April Smith and the Great Picture Show took the stage shortly after midnight for an hour-long set. While the four-piece band was dressed in slacks, button down shirts with vests and sweaters, ties and vintage hats, Smith graced the stage in a white tutu, black tights and heels. In fact, at times the audience forgot they were seeing a concert as Smith transformed into a ballet dancer as she extended her arms and danced along with the music, seemingly taking the crowd to a carnival or jazz club with her vaudeville like charm.

Named one of Rolling Stone‘s “30 Bands to Watch” at Lollapalooza, April Smith and the Great Picture Show did not disappoint. Their frst song, “Movie Loves a Screen” impressed with guitar, violin, bass and ukulele accompaniment as the audience clapped along.

For the complete review, visit Hoboken Patch.

Categories
Artist of the Week

April Smith and the Great Picture Show Bring Surprises to Mercury Lounge

With frontwoman April Smith‘s soulful vocals and quirky banter with the audience, April Smith and the Great Picture Show entertained all at Mercury Lounge for an early show last Wednesday. Playing songs off their most recent EP, Live From the Penthouse, the band’s versatility is spell bounding.

Whether Smith is singing jazzier track “Terrible Things,” a song she dedicated to hit television show, “Dexter,” or having a guest band member play the suitcase onstage as if it was a drum (no joke), April Smith and the Great Picture Show kept the audience enthralled for the entirety of their set.

The cabaret inspired show brought to mind many genres; rock, pop, jazz and even classic tunes from the late 50s and 60s. Infused with guitar, bass, keyboards, percussion and melodica, among other surprise instruments, the band kept a lively and easygoing vibe throughout the night.

The energy was fierce during tracks like “Colors” with fun melodica features (think kazoo with a keyboard attached) and tambourine accompaniment, not to mention that suitcase I mentioned earlier. Who knew a band could have the percussion section consist of a suitcase? Definitely a first seeing a suitcase being played onstage.

Stand out track was emotional ballad, “Beloved.” Before beginning, Smith told the crowd she wrote “Beloved” about her grandparents. “I hope one day two people in the movie Twilight will be kissing to it,” she joked. “Maybe Bella or Edward will make out to this song.” With lyrics like “You are the thrill that stilled my beating heart, baby/You are the one I dream the most/But if I cannot have the real thing/I’ll gladly settle for your ghost,” it’s hard not to picture hearing it on the big screen.

Ending their set with fun track “Wow and Flutter,” Wednesday night was only a glimpse into the bright future for April Smith and the Great Picture Show. Garnering a slot opening for for The Bangles as well as this year’s Lollapalooza is well deserved and I won’t be surprised if you’ll be hearing April Smith and the Great Picture Show everywhere soon.

For more on April Smith and the Great Picture Show, be sure to visit them on MySpace.

Recommended: For fans of Duffy and Tom Waits with the energy and emotion of PJ Harvey and Etta James.

Categories
Artist of the Week

Artist of the Week: April Smith

I first stumbled upon April Smith‘s music during CMJ week in October when I met her publicist, who then gave me two of her most recent EP’s. Throughout CMJ Smith kept showing up wherever I went — whether it was her EP on display in a cute coffee shop right off of Ludlow Street or just overhearing her name mentioned by other concertgoers.

While at first Smith reminds me of a mix of Australian songstress Sia and English singer Duffy, there is something quite unique about her. Her EP, The Great Picture Show is a carnival-esque blend of quirkiness, but seemingly classic music all at the same time. Smith’s MySpace page describes her music much better than I ever could: “Her music is like this: combine the dramatic presence of Freddie Mercury, melodic sweetness of Buckley, range and power of Ann Wilson, smoky sarcasm of Tom Waits, and the ornate imagination of Michel Gondry and you’re getting close. Sounds good, we know. We call it vocally-driven-cinemelodic rock (for short).”

On MySpace you can listen to “Terrible Things” which has an eerie organ-like introduction reminiscent to something you might hear during Halloween. Quickly, Smith segways into a more jazzy vibe while singing, “All of the things that I’ve done/Terrible things you would never believe/The things that I’ve done.” Extremely catchy, just one listen begs for more.

“Color” exemplifies the diversity of Smith’s music. A fun number with kazoo accompaniment, it’s a danceable track with hand-clapping rhythm. “Wow and Flutter” may be the most fun track with Smith intertwining lines from infamous 80s Dead or Alive hit, “You Spin Me Round” with a much slower, jazzy take that works incredibly well for her.

Do yourself a favor and check out April Smith. She’s currently on tour and I’ve heard only great things about her live show. I plan on checking it out for myself. Visit April Smith on MySpace.